Ao Haru Ride: Episode 01 Review

In middle school, a very shy boy, Kou Tanaka, worked up the courage to ask Futaba Yoshioka on a date. She agreed, but after other boys teased her, she yelled that she hated all boys and Kou overheard. Futaba still waited for him for their date as they agreed, but Kou never showed up. In fact, he transferred schools before she could even apologize and make things right between them. Now in high school, Yoshioka wishes that she could go back to her time with Kou. He does, in fact, return to her school district that year, but he goes by a different name: Kou Mabuchi. Futaba wishes to reignite their love, but Kou says that they can not go back to the people they used to be. How heartbreaking…

So far, I have found Ao Haru Ride to be very engaging. I really want for Futaba to be able to right things with Kou, so I find his stubborn mentality to be very frustrating. He seems so nihilistic… This series really seems like it will be very touching – it has been thus far, even one episode in. I was also especially stunned by the artwork; in many of the scenes, a beautiful watercolor effect is used, which enhances the mood of scenes as well. The characters have not been particularly expanded on personality-wise, but their ways of changing who they are to “fit in” is very real. For instance, Futaba does several things to decrease her feminine appeal so that girls will not hate her for attracting many of the guys. All in all, Ao Haru Ride appears to possess the components of a great series.